---
title: "Leave notes for a user and switch into their account"
description: "Write notes a user reads on their Notes tab, with an unread badge until they mark them read, and switch into a user's account to see the console as they do, then Exit user to come back."
type: "howto"
audience: [network-manager]
keywords: [notes for the user, unread notes, notes tab, switch user, exit user, switch into account, see what a publisher sees, internal notes]
ui_path: "Account → Users"
---

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/llms.txt. Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. Append .md to any documentation page URL to get its markdown version.

# Leave notes for a user and switch into their account

Two things you do on an existing user without changing their login: leave a **note** they read
on their **Notes** tab — with the date, without the author, and an unread badge until they mark
it read — and **Switch** into their account to see the dashboard, trees and reports exactly as
they do. Creating and editing the login itself is on
[Create or edit a user](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/account-users-create-and-edit.md); the overview is on
[Manage network users](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/account-users.md).

**Example.** A month after the *dailynews* login was created, the network manager uses **Switch**
to see the dashboard exactly as the editor does, then **Exit user** to come back — and leaves a
note *Your Q3 invoice is ready* that the editor sees flagged on their Notes tab at the next sign-in.

## Typical scenarios

| You want | Do | Where |
|---|---|---|
| To see what a publisher sees | Tick the row → **Switch**; **Exit user** in the top-right menu brings you back | Users grid toolbar |
| Tell a client "your Q3 invoice is ready" where they will see it | **Notes for the user** panel → title and text → **Add**; the user's **Notes** tab shows an unread badge until they mark it read | User edit page, below the form |
| Know whether the client read it | **Read on** with the date, or **Not read yet**, under the note | the same panel |

## Step by step

### Leave a note the user will read

1. On the user's edit page scroll to the **Notes for the user** panel (edit mode only).
2. Type an optional title and up to 5,000 characters of plain text; line breaks are kept.
   Click **Add** — the note is saved at once, newest first.
3. The user reads it on their **Notes** tab, with the date but not the author; the tab's badge
   counts unread notes until they mark them read. Under each note you see who added and last
   changed it, and **Read on** with the date, or **Not read yet**.

   ![Notes for the user panel with one unread and one read note](https://epom.com/docs-images/ad-server/account-users/notes-for-the-user.webp)

### Switch into a user and come back

1. Tick an active user you may access and click **Switch**. Your session is replaced by theirs
   and you land on their account area.
2. To come back, open the user menu (top right) and choose **Exit user**, which replaces
   **Log out** while you are switched in. The browser lands back on the Users grid (on your
   account home if you switched from the classic UI or another browser tab).

## Caveats and exceptions

- **Notes for the user.** Each note has **Edit** and **Delete** (Delete asks first: *The user will
  no longer see it on their Notes tab. This cannot be undone.*). A new note is unread, and so is a
  note whose title or text you change. Switched into the user, you see the same badge but cannot
  mark anything read. The buttons need the same right as editing the user. The user's **Notes**
  tab needs the **Notes Tab Visible** permission on their role, off by default, and shows only
  once they have a note. The panel warns when the role lacks the permission, and while the user
  has no notes it says the tab appears with the first one.
The caveats that apply to the whole page — who sees the tab, Manage Preferences, statistic
accounts, per-role notes — are on [Manage network users](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/account-users.md#caveats-and-exceptions).

## Not working?

| Symptom | Cause | Check |
|---|---|---|
| **Switch** is grey | The user is inactive, or you may not access them | **Status** column; your role's rights |
| The user cannot see the note I added | Their role lacks **Notes Tab Visible** (the panel warns) | Administrator enables it on the role |
| The user has no **Notes** tab although their role has **Notes Tab Visible** | The tab shows only once the user has a note | Add the first note; the tab appears on their next page load or within about three minutes |
| A note shows *Not read yet* although the user read it | Editing a note's title or text marks it unread again; or you read it while switched in, which does not count | Ask the user to mark it read on their tab |
| **Exit user** is missing from the menu | You are not switched in — you signed in as that user directly | Log out and sign in as yourself |

The rest of the list — the form, roles, passwords, the API key — is on
[Manage network users](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/account-users.md#not-working).

## Reference

The **Notes for the user** panel and the **Notes Tab Visible** permission are in the hub's
[Reference](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/account-users.md#reference).

## Related

- [Manage network users](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/account-users.md)
- [Create or edit a user](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/account-users-create-and-edit.md)
- [Switch into a user's account](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/admin/users-and-roles.md#switch-into-a-users-account)
- [Preferences](https://epom.com/ad-server/docs/guides/collaboration/preferences.md)